Undescribable Perfection

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

True to form, the ever iconoclastic director Michael Winterbottom decided to follow up a serious triptych of films, including Jude (1996), Welcome to Sarajevo (1997) and the underrated I Want You (1998), with this throwaway romp that today seems more like the pilot episode to a discarded ITV soap opera. I suppose if it was simply an excuse for the filmmaker to experiment with certain cinéma-vérité-like techniques before making the modern-classic Wonderland (1999) then the end might have justified the means. However, for the most part, With or Without You (1999) could be seen as a largely unassuming romantic comedy drama dealing with the love, in/fidelity and fertility of a humble, middle-class couple from Belfast, and the problems that arise when old flames (and old desires) decide to re-ignite.Here, Winterbottom is aided by a strong cast of performers, headed by semi-regular collaborator Christopher Eccleston and Goodnight Sweetheart/Ballykissangel star Dervla Kirwan as the couple going through a series of personal-problems during the process of conceiving their first child. The supporting cast is also fairly credible, including talented actors like Julie Graham, Yvan Attal, Alun Armstrong, Doon Mackichan and Fionnula Flanagan, who all manage to bring a certain sense of weight to an otherwise ordinary script. For the most part, the visual presentation of the film is flat and, as the previous reviewer noted, reminiscent of a post-watershed television drama. However, there are the occasional hints of a more intersecting idea developed, with many of the images often composed so as to appear as windows within windows; similar to what director Peter Greenaway did with The Pillow Book (1996) and 8 and a 1/2 Women (1999). There's no real need for this device here, other than for the fact that it seems to conform to the director's view of the material as a sort of Godardian retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, complete with the scheming wicked witch, a forest scene and many more obvious attempts at mirror symbolism.Certainly, Winterbottom is an intelligent filmmaker, and it is this intelligence that makes even his most insipid or seemingly unremarkable films at least watchable on a superficial level. Here, the film's climax on the beach seems like a direct reference to Godard's Pierre Le Fu (1965) and Weekend (1967) respectively, whilst, for a film that aims itself so squarely at the made for TV demographic, there are a number of fairly adventurous (and indeed, somewhat explicit) sex scenes peppered throughout. Although this is certainly a bland and pedestrian work from Winterbottom - who is still one of the most interesting British filmmakers currently at work - the film does at least offer an hour and a half of easy-to-digest, undemanding entertainment.

I think the previous comments were a little harsh...it's a romantic comedy and not a bad example of one at that. As far as the plot goes I would compare it with the British TV series "Cold Feet" (not quite as good though). Dervla Kirwan is quirky and funny in her role and it's nice to see Chris Eccleston do something a bit different to Doctor Who. I also appreciated the underlying theme of Northern Irish Protestant/Catholic differences. Great soundtrack too, of course! All in all, it's entertainment, while not Oscar material,it was fun to watch and that's what counts, isn't it? A refreshing change from the formulaic Hollywood romantic comedies.

With two of Britain's most reliable actors playing the leads, and a superb director of films like Jude and Wonderland, With Or Without would seem to have everything going for it. But watching the movie one quickly sinks into despair. This is a truly bland movie, with little to hold ones attention. The cast have little to do except go through the motions, the soapy proceedings are hard to believe in and don't really demand the effort. As for the actual plotting, it is unbelieveably cliched and predictable. The ending attempts to wrap things up in a novel and optimistic way and instead seems like a cinematic version of musical chairs as the time runs out and every character needs to find a place quickly. Also for a film whcih features sex as such an integral part of the plotting, it seems to have a very awkward attitude to it. The sex scenes are not particularly funny when they are meant to be, and certainly not erotic. Quite what Winterbottom saw in this and how he managed to make it so blandly is difficult to fathom. Saying it looks like a tv movie is unfair on tv movies: this is an extended episode of a fairly lazy soap opera and a crushing disappointment.

It will be a really disappointment if you decide to see this film after I Want You (like me).Also I'm sure it isn't a good idea either if you decide to see for the first time.(sure if you don't like classical marriage film made in Hollywood) Plot,style,casting,directing...they haven't got any relations with I Want You.Again the film is taken the title from a popular song written by U2.Maybe this is the only thing that is similar with I Want You.Unfortunately it didn't leave same effect to my soul that Elvis Costello's song did.It has no original things that you hope Winterbottom may use.He is on the Luc Besson's way:Nikita,Léon and a big Hollywoodic disaster The Fifth Element.Where is the sensibility that belongs to european films?Where is the plot that comes out from our real lifes?